F SHDCVLT Interviews Wade Johnson of Cerebus - SHDCVLT

SHDCVLT Interviews Wade Johnson of Cerebus







Thanks for taking some time to talk to us. Would you like to introduce
Yourself and the rest of the band for our readers?

It's an absolute pleasure to be doing the interview! Thank you for taking the time. I'm Nic, I play drums. Kyle plays guitar, Larry plays bass, and Jesse does vocals.

What's the story behind "Cerebus" who had the idea to start it and when did it happen?

  Cerebus was originally a project between Kyle and I that started last summer (2013). Kyle and I had been jamming together, in and out of projects, for years and constantly writing for the fun of it with no serious intentions. We had written songs before but we got to working on one song last summer that we were actually pretty happy with. We put a ton of time into it and we eventually asked our buddy Jesse to lay some vocals down for it. It turned out monumentally better than any of us had really expected, and we just sort of rolled with it. That's how our first song "Is Created By" came about. We've kind of buried it and forgotten about it since the new music is much better, however.

How did you guys come up with the name? It’s very dark and catchy, honestly I love it. I mean just the name itself gives me goosebumps  

Kyle, Jesse, and I were actually looking through demon's names, trying to find a name to compliment the lyrical work for our first EP. We got around to the name "Cerberus," even though technically it's not a demon. "Cerebus" is simply an alternate spelling for it.

Were any of you guy's in other bands before "Cerebus"? What instrument did you play?

We have all been in so many different projects. As far as things we're proud of, Kyle and Jesse have their other band Barabbas, which is also doing well, and Kyle and I used to be in a metalcore band called To The End. Kyle plays guitar in Barabbas, as does Jesse, oddly.
 
 So you guys released “Vitiated Existence” EP somewhere close to christmas of last year, which has had a pretty good amount of feedback. Did everything meet your expectations? How did you guys go about writing it and who did what exactly?

Vitiated Existence did incredibly better than we had ever initially thought it would. Our local scene was really stoked on it, we got some recognition from some national bands, as well as promotion companies, etc. It may not seem like much but we were never really expecting anything out of it except for a way to express ourselves and make music. It has turned into something larger than life.
As far as writing goes, Vitiated Existence's instrumentals are pretty straightforward and simplistic, at least compared to the new album. We had a lot of influence from bands like Black Tongue, Oceano, Legion: the deathcore bands that were doing well at the time. As far as vocals go, Jesse gets a lot of influence from bands like Cannibal Corpse and Cradle of Filth. The syncopated rhythms and experimentation really helped the EP stand out. 

How excited are you guys for the newest album to release? I've been listening to the teaser none stop! I mean its heavy and not just the guitars, the vocalist as well. Which you don't see that to much now a days, so it's pretty awesome!


We're absolutely estatic about the new album. Personally, I've never been more proud of anything in my life. There's really something for everyone; it's fifteen tracks. It seriously blows our first EP out o the water. It's more mature, more experimental, dare I even say, groundbreaking. There's slam death metal aspects, nu metal influences, groove, technical deathmetal riffs, etc. We're stoked on it and we sincerely hope people give it a chance.





Alright, so what intentions did you guys have for Cerebus, where exactly do you guys want to go with it? How far are you wanting to go? Seeing you guys make it to the Semifinals for summer slaughter/All stars tour I assume you guys have big dreams for it, do you plan on touring in the near future?

Our priority, at least for the next couple months, is to get as many people as we can to listen to our new record. We're extremely confident that if people give it a listen that they'll like it. We are so stoked to be working with the guys in Total Deathcore, and we're eternally grateful to them for helping us spread the word as well as handling physical CDs. With Nic and Larry going to college soon, tours will be few and far between, so the occasional out of town show will have to suffice until next summer where the possibility of actual tours will be present.



What are some of your main musical influences? Who got you into wanting to start a band?

Our main influences go for "Hallelujah," Meshuggah is number one. That would be pretty obvious with some of the more groove-oriented tracks. Vocally, the album is a lot like older Cannibal Corpse. A lot of the structure we use comes from bands like The Faceless. We're all really into a wide variety of death metal, as well as more "chill" music. We could go on for ages about the bands we like but as far as the top 5 go, it's something like: Meshuggah, Cannibal Corpse, The Faceless, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, and Legion. Our influences constantly change, however.

What would you say is the most fulfilling, exciting part about being a musician? Being onstage, playing for fans like what drives you to continue doing it?

Being on stage certainly is a pleasure. It's really hard to pinpoint what the best part is. Recording and writing is super fun, though tedious. If I had to pick, I'd say the best part of it is being able to express ourselves through our music and connect with people; we never really thought people would really actually support what we were doing to the extent they do now... We were just a few dudes making music that we liked.


What would be your dream tour? What bands would you like to have Cerebus play with? Come on, I know you've thought about this a lot!

I think the answer for that would vary with each member. I know Kyle would love to tour with Meshuggah, Larry would probably pick a band like Suicide Silence, Jesse would probably pick Wretched, Cradle of Filth, or Cannibal Corpse and I'd probably pick Oceano. As far as bands we can all agree on, we all really love Behemoth, Dying Fetus, The Faceless, or maybe even Whitechapel.

Is there anything else you would like our readers to know? Anything, Our ear's are open for ya.  

Be sure to check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CEREBUSband. "Hallelujah" comes out August 15th via Total Deathcore. PLEASE give it a chance and pick it up. Thanks for reading! Thank you. 


Alright man, well I, along with everyone in SHDCVLT including our reader's appreciate you taking the time to do this interview. I’m very excited and looking forward to see what you guys bring to the music scene! Good luck to you guys! 

Here's their newest release "Seek" off of their newest full length album "Hallelujah" enjoy!

CONVERSATION

1 comments:

Brett Curtis said...

This band is sick!

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